


New Tricks

by Rochelle_Templer



Series: Inktober For Writers 2017 [12]
Category: Diagnosis Murder
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-16 17:17:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12347109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rochelle_Templer/pseuds/Rochelle_Templer
Summary: Steve is surprised by the latest addition to the beach house....





	New Tricks

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of my Inktober for Writers project. The prompt for this fic was "instrument".

“Dad? When did you get a guitar?”

It’d been a long day at work, and Steve knew that Mark had also had a tiring day based on the short conversation the two of them had had around lunch. So, he had brought home some Chinese food so he and his father could unwind for an hour or two before they had to go to bed. Even though it was late, Steve was confident that his father would still be up.

What he hadn’t expected was to walk into the door with what sounded like the opening chords of _Pennies from Heaven_ being played on an electric guitar. Steve had dropped the food off near the door and had walked in to see Mark sitting on the couch fiddling with a guitar on his lap.

“Oh hi, Steve,” Mark smiled at him. “Are you hungry? I think there’s some leftovers in the fridge.”

“That’s ok, I brought dinner,” Steve said. “But Dad, what about this guitar?”

“Isn’t it great?” Mark said, his smile growing. “Doctor Frederick, you remember Doctor Frederick, don’t you? He’s the one who tried going over Niagara Falls in a barrel….twice.”                        

“Yeah, and then he got kicked into a palm tree when he tried to ride a camel,” Steve nodded.

“Oh that’s right, I had forgotten about that,” Mark chuckled. “Anyway, his son is moving back to LA and he was giving away some stuff that his son didn’t want anymore. I saw this and thought ‘wouldn’t that look nice sitting next to bongos?’”

“And of course, you can’t have a guitar without trying to play it at some point,” Steve said, a smirk starting to form.

“Exactly,” Mark replied. “I used to fool around with a ukulele when I was in college, but this is a bit different, I must admit. Still, I think I might get the hang of it.”

 _‘Yeah, and I’ll get an earful of it until you decide rather or not you will,’_ Steve thought. He was already picturing many afternoon and evenings of mangled songs while Mark played with his new toy. Evenings where he was sure he’d be tempted to put in some extra shifts at BBQ Bob’s.

Still, seeing his father smile while trying to piece together chords from his favorite standards brought a smile to Steve’s face as well. He thought back a few years ago when he asked his father why he was buying bongos without ever having played them before.

 _“Well maybe I don’t know now, but I could learn how to play them,”_ Mark had told him. _“That’s half the fun of it: learning something new and discovering how good you are at it.”_

The guitar whined in protest to Mark’s clumsiness with the fret board, but Steve continued to grin. That answer was so typical of his father. It was also part of the reason why people seemed to be drawn to Mark. Because his father was always on a journey to find new ideas and new experiences.

And it was a journey that Mark was happy to share with the world around him.

“Ok, Springsteen, if you’re ready for a break, I’ve got some moo shu pork I’d like to dig into,” Steve said.

“Oh great,” Mark said, sitting the guitar aside. “Now that you mention it, I am kind of hungry.”

Steve chuckled and went to fetch the food. For a brief moment he thought that maybe it would be better if Mark turned his attention back to barbershop quartets.

‘ _Nah_ ,’ he thought as he grabbed the bags and turned on the TV before sitting down on the couch next to his father.


End file.
